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Early morning dewy road commuter tire suggestion?

Sparkynutz

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Found a 2020 NC750 DCT at a dealer that needs tires. They offered the bike with new Bridgestone battle axe adventure tires or as is with current tires and $400 off the price. The current tires are Dunlop trailmax. The back tire needs replacing. There is 4k miles on the bike.
Do I get the tires they are offering, another set of what is on it already or what's best option for my riding plans?
My bike will be a daily commuter 95% of the time to and from work 15 miles 70mph hwy riding 3 miles city. I'm looking for a set of tires that grip well on early morning cold dewy roads. Decent tread for occaisonal logging roads/gravel etc a plus but not required.
Good rain grip is also important.
Price and longevity less important than safety. I'm a newish rider coming from a Kawasaki super sherpa 250 and still trying to decide if I keep the bike or not. This tire choice may play some part in that.
I kinda like the looks of shinko 705 or Mitas E07 but unsure if theres better choices to be had that verifiably work on a DCT bike.
TYIA

Ryan
 
I wouldn’t go with the Shinko 705 and probably not the Mitas either. Good street tires will work for wet road conditions and do fine on maintained gravel roads. If you are trying to make way on unimproved roads, the NC‘s relatively low budget suspension will be your limiting factor, not so much the tires. So don’t compromise your street experience on the hopes of having great off pavement abilities.

The Trailmax were OEM tires for awhile. They were known for having a very short life.
 
Michelin Road 5. I've plowed over 15000 miles on my two sets so far, just bought a third pair. I live outside of Seattle, not known for being a particularly warm nor dry place. I ride year round. Great grip wet or dry. I've also put a few hundred miles of USFS roads on them.
 
Kinda leaning towards the T31 since theres lots of reviews on them and there is a $50 rebate on them if I buy on Saturday or before.
Hoping to pick up the bike Friday and order something that night.
 
I switch two bikes to Michelin Road 5 tires and am amazed by their grip on wet and dry roads. If there is a better wet road tire on the market that fits the NC then it must be something amazing and also unknown. The Road 5 is a great dry road tire, doesn’t catch on tar snakes, but it is an absolute game changer on wet roads.

Not great on gravel or dirt. But for commuting or touring on an NC it the best gripping tire for asphalt use I’ve ever heard of or used. I ride 95% asphalt and can live with the Road 5 on gravel for the 5% that I ride an NC off hard firm pavement. For the other 95% of my travel I have found nothing better.

FWIW the tires should not be purchased on looks, but rather on performance. For what you say you are needing them for, the Road 5 will not disappoint. Safe, sure, grippy in wet and dry conditions.
 
I switch two bikes to Michelin Road 5 tires and am amazed by their grip on wet and dry roads. If there is a better wet road tire on the market that fits the NC then it must be something amazing and also unknown. The Road 5 is a great dry road tire, doesn’t catch on tar snakes, but it is an absolute game changer on wet roads.

Not great on gravel or dirt. But for commuting or touring on an NC it the best gripping tire for asphalt use I’ve ever heard of or used. I ride 95% asphalt and can live with the Road 5 on gravel for the 5% that I ride an NC off hard firm pavement. For the other 95% of my travel I have found nothing better.

FWIW the tires should not be purchased on looks, but rather on performance. For what you say you are needing them for, the Road 5 will not disappoint. Safe, sure, grippy in wet and dry conditions.
The dunlop mutant sounds like it may give the road 5 a challenge wet or cold, but I didn't have any luck finding the rear tire in stock, only front.
I did price the road 5 last night at the same time as the t31 but it was over 60% more expensive for the pair. Is it 60% better? What other tires have you ran besides the road 5 that don't compare?
If the t31 is 90% as good in cold and rain as the road 5 but better offroad it may be worth saving the cash and selling my old bike. If it isn't, then I may have to suck up the price difference and get the road 5.
How do they compare for wear rates?
 
To my mind tires are probably the single most important wear component on a motorcycle. I won’t cheap out on tires.

That said there are no actual reviews of the new Mutant tire by commuters. Does it sound promising? Yes. Is that promise advertising hype? Unknown but no advertising agency undersells a product.

For someone who rides +90% on asphalt roadways and -10% on unpaved roads like gravel, chip & seal, established dirt, etc I’d seriously challenge anyone to find a better tire than the Road 5. This is especially true on wet roads. Next week or next year another tire may prove to be better. But none has yet.

FWIW on the NC bikes I've only had Road 5 and stock tires. One had Dunlops the other was a Bridgstone. Can't recall which models they came with. But the Road 5 on the NC is a massive improvement in handling, quite literally no comparison. In fact it was such an amazing difference in performance it was shocking.

As for wear, I honestly don't know. I have about 1500 miles on one set of Road 5s and about half that on the other set.

Is the Road 5 a dirt tire? Nope. Not going to excel on wet grass or sand either; probably not going to even do very well on those surfaces. But you asked about wet commuter tires for almost always riding on roadways.

And to quote you:
Good rain grip is also important.
Price and longevity less important than safety.
 
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I've had Michelin Road 4 (the old Pilot Road 4) on my 2015 DCT ... 3 sets. Then I put Pirelli Scorpion Trail II on there for 2 sets (the 2nd set is currently on) ... went with the Scorpion's to get a little "better" off-road capability (fire roads, gravel, nothing serious). Like others I'm on asphalt 90+% of the time. The Pirelli's are good - no complaints - but candidly I can't say I noticed any better handling on the non-asphalt that I ride - it's not like they are Shinko 705s. Next change I'm going back to the Michelin's ... Road 5. Those were just amazing on wet roads ... VERY confidence inspiring. I got about 8,000 mi on the Michelin's. Looks like the set of Road 5's is about $71 more than the set of T31's (based on RevZilla) ... for my riding, that's about $4/month difference, so I'd take the Michelin's every day of the week.
 
The dunlop mutant sounds like it may give the road 5 a challenge wet or cold, but I didn't have any luck finding the rear tire in stock, only front.
I did price the road 5 last night at the same time as the t31 but it was over 60% more expensive for the pair. Is it 60% better? What other tires have you ran besides the road 5 that don't compare?
If the t31 is 90% as good in cold and rain as the road 5 but better offroad it may be worth saving the cash and selling my old bike. If it isn't, then I may have to suck up the price difference and get the road 5.
How do they compare for wear rates?
The Mutant is a new tire with little history. Block tread tires tend to scallop and cup early on in my experience. Personally I'm waiting to let others wear out some tires and see how they do. They don't make my list yet.

I have ridden out two complete sets of Road 5s and on the 3rd set on my RT and many sets of T31s on my NCs. I love the Road 5 and it's possibly the best tire I've ridden in 353,000 miles. Michelin finally figured out dual compound tires with the Road 5. The reason I did not recommend the Road 5s earlier is for cost. They are a better wet tire than the Bridgestones but not by much and the Bridgestones last long enough (8,000 plus miles for me, Road 5s 10 to 13,000 miles) to give the cost per mile equation to the T31 especially with once or twice a year rebates BS offers. I rode many sets of T30 and T31s in rain or shine on various motorcycles and loved them. You can't go wrong with either choice.
 
I commute all year in the city on my NC but haven't done any really long trips in a few years. So I'm on my second set of Pirelli angel gt2's. They are amazing tires for riding twisties and wet conditions. I did the tail of the dragon in the rain and didn't have any issues. I suspect if you're putting long highway miles on the tires, as in long trips, the road 5's might be better. With the Pirelli's you are paying for that side rubber in the twisties. I get really good miles out of mine but all tire wear is relative to how you ride. They are probably close to the price of the road 5's
 
I commute all year in the city on my NC but haven't done any really long trips in a few years. So I'm on my second set of Pirelli angel gt2's. They are amazing tires for riding twisties and wet conditions. I did the tail of the dragon in the rain and didn't have any issues. I suspect if you're putting long highway miles on the tires, as in long trips, the road 5's might be better. With the Pirelli's you are paying for that side rubber in the twisties. I get really good miles out of mine but all tire wear is relative to how you ride. They are probably close to the price of the road 5's
Not sure about now but the Angel GT2 was my 2nd choice tire when I shopped and the prices were about $50 per set less than the Road 5 from my dealer, installed. Other shops may have very different prices. My shop stocked the Pirelli brand, my Road 5 tires were the first set they installed. They now stock the Road 5 tires too.

Angel GT2 tire reviews are also generally glowing reviews.
 
I dont know about an NC but Michelin tires have always been great tires for me. I am trying a pair of the Angel GTs on another bike now and they seem like nice tires as well. For me not quite as good in the rain as the Michelins, but not bad.
 
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I believe the last time Motorrad magazine (German) rated sport touring tires, in probably 2017 or 2018, they rated the ContiRoadAttack 3 better than the Michelin Road 5. That said, I thought they rated the Pirelli Angel GT better than both. I don't recall the individual ratings like wet grip, dry grip, handling, etc., though.

I've had at least Pilot Road 4, ContiRoadAttack3, Angel GT, ContiMotion, Metzeler OEM tires on my NCX. I liked the Angel GTs the best overall, mainly due to handling feel, but it rarely rains here unless it floods, so I'm not much help to someone in Seattle.
 
Dunlap roadmaster III great commuter tires
I am generally reluctant to make recommendations on tires as they are somewhat like seats in that evaluation of their performance on one's bike stressed under thier riding style and conditions make performance subjective.

That said, I agree with BC Smith that Dunlop Rodasmart IIIs are fantastic; wet, dry, fast. slow, hot cold, straight or leaning. Last a long time. I've had them on 3 bikes so far including the NC.
 
Not sure about now but the Angel GT2 was my 2nd choice tire when I shopped and the prices were about $50 per set less than the Road 5 from my dealer, installed. Other shops may have very different prices. My shop stocked the Pirelli brand, my Road 5 tires were the first set they installed. They now stock the Road 5 tires too.

Angel GT2 tire reviews are also generally glowing reviews.

I believe the last time Motorrad magazine (German) rated sport touring tires, in probably 2017 or 2018, they rated the ContiRoadAttack 3 better than the Michelin Road 5. That said, I thought they rated the Pirelli Angel GT better than both. I don't recall the individual ratings like wet grip, dry grip, handling, etc., though.

I've had at least Pilot Road 4, ContiRoadAttack3, Angel GT, ContiMotion, Metzeler OEM tires on my NCX. I liked the Angel GTs the best overall, mainly due to handling feel, but it rarely rains here unless it floods, so I'm not much help to someone in Seattle.
The Motorrad review was of 2017 tires and the Road 5 didn't come out until late 2019. MCN reviewed sport touring tires last year and the spread from best Metzeler Roadtec 01 to last Bridgestone T31 was only 13 points.
 
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